Boss Paul Lambert has confirmed that Leicester’s Callum Elder is imminently set to join the Blues on loan as cover for Jonas Knudsen, who seems set to depart in January with the Danish international’s contract up at the end of the season, a situation the Town manager says should never have been allowed to develop.

Asked whether Elder, who TWTD revealed on Saturday has been training with Town with a view to signing on loan, is indeed set to join his squad at the start of the window, Lambert said: “Yes. Obviously Jonas's situation has been well documented, he's in his last six months of his contract.

“Jonas's representatives and himself, they want to keep their eyes open for something else, which is fine. It's their prerogative to do it. But I also have to look at Ipswich, which is the most important aspect of this.

“Myles [Kenlock] has done fantastically well for us. We have to bring a left-back just in case Jonas does leave. But I've got to say Jonas has been great in training, his commitment to it is no problem. But also I've got to look at what can happen if he does go."

Does it make financial sense for the club to move Knudsen, 26, on now rather than risk losing him for nothing in the summer? “It depends the way the football club use it, whether they think money can come into the club or reinvest, or whether they think we can let him play here for the remainder.

“But I've also got to look at what's right for Ipswich Town. If he does go, and we only had one left-back, we're in trouble. But this situation should have been sorted well before I came in here.”

Lambert says he won’t be surprised to receive interest in Knudsen: “If you're going to be his agents then I think there probably will be a few calls.

“But nobody knows. And I'm pretty sure [owner] Marcus [Evans] is quite shrewd enough to say, ‘Well, if he is going to go, people are going to have to make it worth our while’. That goes without saying.

“Listen, I’m not silly, I know how the game works, I know exactly what goes around and what comes around, but I've also got to look after the football club which is the most important aspect. If somebody has got one eye on something else then we have to look.

He says no offers have yet been received for Knudsen: “No, not that I’m aware of at the minute but obviously Jonas and I had the discussion. And, as I said before, he’s been great with it.

“It’s just in the back of my mind that when somebody goes into the last year or the last six months of their contract they can do what they want.

“If anything happens I need cover there, I need help there. Whether somebody comes in, maybe. Somebody might not, I don’t know. I’m pretty sure Marcus will look at it.”

In the summer Middlesbrough and Stoke were both keen to sign Knudsen, while more recently Danish top two FC Copenhagen and FC Midtjylland have been linked along with Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf, whose fans will make their annual pilgrimage to Portman Road for the Rotherham match.

Lambert had previously indicated that he had recommended to Evans that Knudsen should be offered new terms but given Town’s position at the bottom of the table and seemingly destined for League One, the former Esbjerg fB man is hardly going to be in a rush to sign a new deal.

“He’s entitled to do what he wants because he’s in his last six months,” Lambert added. “Where it falls down is that this should have been taken care of with 12 months to go, he shouldn’t have been into the last six months.”

A number of Town players are in a similar position with contracts up at the end of the season - Dean Gerken, Luke Chambers, Grant Ward and Myles Kenlock among them although with the club having options for a further year in most cases - and Lambert says it’s important for the Blues to get players tied down rather than allowing them to get into Knudsen’s situation.

“The club has to, it can’t let people run it down or you keep having the same cycle where eight guys go, eight guys come in and you’re building team after team after team. It doesn’t work,” he added.

“It’s the wrong structure, in my opinion. If you keep on getting loans, loans, loans, loans, loans you may as well throw your money in the street, it’s not normal.

“The club has to have a stable base where it builds and you have maybe one or two loans, OK, no problem, but not too many that aren’t your own players. You can’t bring eight or nine players in in one summer, it’s sheer madness.”

The January transfer window is likely to end with the Blues having up to seven or eight players on loan but that’s more down to what's required to get out of the current situation than longer term planning.

“You could do,” he said. “It’s not normal, but we need help, not just one or two coming in, we need help and we need help from lads that want to be here, lads that want fight and win that battle. That’s what we need.”

Photo: TWTD

StringerBell added 16:26 - Dec 31 That is pretty damning language from Lambert regarding how the club has been run in the last few years. It's obvious that it is much much worse than he thought and the veneer of positivity is slipping as he realises just how inept Evans is.
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DJ27 added 16:38 - Dec 31 Not sure how 6 additional loans are going to work. We already have Pennington and Chalobah as starters. If Elder replaces Jonas that's 3. It leaves 2 others.for a match day squad. So not not how 6 more are going to fit in. Unless Skuse and Huws are back then maybe Chalobah drops out altogether. We certainly need 2 strikers a rb and a right winger. Going to be an interesting few weeks to see how it all pans out.

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LonE17Blue added 16:42 - Dec 31 Will Evans take heed of these hard hitting, and very truthful comments? Sadly, imo probably not!
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herfie added 17:00 - Dec 31 Possibly PL laying the path towards his own exit door: in short, impossible to stop, let alone turn around, our relentless decline whilst under ME's shambolic ownership. Managerial impossibility. Too bleak an assessment - possibly. But these latest PL comments are brutally honest and, in a sense, reflect a degree of despair that cuts through all the previous pisitivty like a laser beam.

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brendenward35 added 17:16 - Dec 31 I think Marcus has already been told by PL exact where he thinks it's gone wrong and hopefully ME for once listens and takes note.
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Lukeybluey added 17:36 - Dec 31 I hope to god that PL sticks with us if we do go down. Best manager we've had for a long time. Hurst and Evans this summer basically dug the grave and stepped us down there and began burying us. Now PL is trying to shovel the dirt out using a spoon before we are buried alive. We are behind you and the lads! We'll win 2 1 tomorrow. COYB's!
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ITFCsince73 added 17:40 - Dec 31 I think most Town support were getting a bit aggrieved with the constant positive spin vibe over last few months or so. Interesting that since the Boro game PL has mentioned/spoke about things that knocks the positive vibe a bit. He mentioned Saturday that Boro had a player on the bench, costing more than whole Town match day squad. He wouldn't have mentioned such things pre Boro. Pleased he is starting to say how things really are. We're not stupid after all. I'm not really understanding the potential signing from Leicester, although maybe a good player, has less experience of the Champonship than Harrison. I thought the idea was to bring in battle hardened, Championship experienced help. Maybe he's been told monies not there for such signings?

3

jabberjackson added 17:41 - Dec 31 What a brilliant set of comments from PL McCarthy was always far too far up ME's back passage to make such honest comments As long as ME is shrewd enough to listen to PL, we will have a decent team in 2020 But it will take another year of sorting the club out from top to bottom, sadly Let us hope that PL has the appetite for the fight
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Mark added 17:47 - Dec 31 I thought Ipswich were doing much better of late of getting players to sign longer term contracts. Perhaps with Knudsen he just wasn't rated highly enough by the club? He would have been expensive to renew after the World Cup, but to be frank his performances for Ipswich have been mediocre. I suspect we would have sold Knudsen if a decent offer came in during the summer, but I suppose none did. More widely though, Lambert is absolutely right about the influx of players (especially loans) being wrong. A bit of quality such as Chalobah is fine, but not the likes of Edun and Graham.

3

Cakeman added 17:49 - Dec 31 Refreshing to hear straight forward comments from the heart instead of the usual Company line that we heard from managers past. Well said Paul Lambert. Help has been asked for so now it is time for the owner to do something to back our manager extremely quickly. Unlike the embarrassing mishandling of the reported failed Curtis Tilt bids of the summer!
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mib added 18:07 - Dec 31 Mark, after his remarks about McCarthys exit and his performances this season I personally will be glad to see the back of the overrated Knudson.
3

blue86 added 18:27 - Dec 31 its all a big mess! well done ph for saying it how it is, far to many people at board level who are passengers at this club imo. Marcus Evans either pull your finger out and get on with it, who sell to someone who will take us foward. Ipswich town isnt a joke club, but you are turning us into one! sort it QUICK! coyb
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blue86 added 18:29 - Dec 31 pl not ph! lol oops
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Dissboyitfc added 18:37 - Dec 31 This is a confusing signing for me, we want battle hardened players with championship experience and we sign him, he might be great, we have some good youngsters of our own... pointless imo
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Dissboyitfc added 18:40 - Dec 31 Mib.... down voted you by mistake it's definately an up arrow from me. Get rid, ASAP!!
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warktheline added 23:17 - Dec 31 Good riddance Knudsen, a mickite !
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FromIpswichToPhoenix added 23:32 - Dec 31 The World Cup ruined Bart and Jonas. I want the players they were before they left.
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Help added 09:14 - Jan 1 Lets hope ME learns how to run a club from a manager that tells him how he wants the club to be run. If we go down I could see PL moving on if ME does not back him. Need to hear the signing of at least 4 players in next couple of days and 6 points from next 2 games a minimum.
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stewartm added 09:53 - Jan 1 Nothing wrong with how the club has been run, 'Evans is our saviour spending all his own money to make Ipswich great'. FUKIN KNOBS!
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Gilesy added 10:53 - Jan 1 Has anyone ever said that?!
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Bergholtblue added 11:16 - Jan 1 “Where it falls down is that this should have been taken care of with 12 months to go, he shouldn't have been into the last six months.” The club is not being run effectively? Surely not!
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Michael101 added 13:42 - Jan 1 Yes Hurst dug the grave,but mad Mick cut the turf.
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dirtydingusmagee added 10:53 - Jan 2 Dont know anything about Elder ,but surely he cant be more unpredictable than Knudson. For that reason i welcome him to Town. I am surprised that there is much interest in Knudson he is average at best [on a good day] , but then i suppose his deadly long throw would make him a target for other clubs . Bye Jonas.
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dirtydingusmagee added 11:14 - Jan 2 Paul Lambert recognises the problems ,and isnt afraid to speak up . I honestly believe he could bring good times back to ITFC, HOWEVER, I dont think Evans will ever change, and things will continue on the downward spiral. I dont think Paul Lambert will be happy to let that happen on his watch and will throw the towel in rather than struggle whilst kissing M E 's a''e .

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